The Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress has hit back at the Ghana Health Service (GHS) for its decision to make vaccination compulsory for all travelers leaving and visiting the country.

Taking to his Facebook timeline, to register his displeasure, Sammy Gyamfi wrote, “Vaccination must be by choice and not by force.”

On Thursday, December 9, the GHS made some modifications to its protocols regarding foreign travel through the Kotoka International Airport.

The Service noted that in the wake of Omicron, all persons 18 years and above arriving in Ghana from December 12 must provide proof of full vaccination.

However, Mr. Gyamfi on Monday said the directive is an affront to the 1992 Constitution.

As such, he pledged to use every legitimate means possible to resist the “madness, no matter the cost or stigma.”

He added that his position is entirely his and not that of any entity that he is a member of or represents.

Meanwhile, a Pharmacist and Research Fellow at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) Kwame Sarpong Asiedu has intimated that mandatory vaccination, according to the laws of the state, is legal.

Citing Ghana’s Public Health Act 2012 (851), Dr Sarpong Asiedu argued that government has the mandate to make general decisions for the public (with regards to health and compulsory vaccination); provided it is not injurious to the health of (any) individual.

Under this Act, “there’s a clause on public vaccination and compulsory vaccination. It looks like even under our laws, mandatory vaccination is legal as long as the legal instrument is enforced,” he said.